Reading Blog Due Monday 2/6 @ midnight

Chapter five is all about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation comes randomly and spontaneously from inside a person for what they strive for and their psychological needs. There are 4 benefits that this chapter mentional for having intrinsic motivationl persistence, creativity, conceptual understanding (its easier to process more information acurately and integrate it), and optimal functioning (intriinsic goals lead to better function and is associated with self-actualizing and higher self esteem) Intrinsic motivation helps a person feel good about themselves, without any outside incentive. Extrinisc motivation comes from environmental incentives. Incentives are something that we usually expect after doing something, money, food, praise, awards etc. A good theory that helps explain extrinisic motivation is S:B-C. S is the situational cue that triggers B the behavioral response which leads to C, the consequence. This is better known as operant conditioning. Most known with Pavlov and his salivating dogs. Also in this chapter they talk about positive and negative reinforcers, punishers and rewards and how all of these cna increase or decrease our behaviors.

Because of other psych classes not much of this surprised me since I learned it in many other classes. I do still find it interesting how things so small can influece our behavior. I didn't know much about the Cognitive Evaluation Theory and the different types of regulations. They are very true and I could think of a time where I have been all of these; externally regulated (only study for a test), introjected regulation (listening to parents plans), identified regulation (I work hard to acheive my career goals), and integrated regulation (Recycling isn't convinent, but I care for my environment). I found it to be interesting to see behavior broken down delicately.

I'm not sure if it is possible to be intrinsically motivated while there is still money involved. I think it is, if you really want to succeed in this profession and don't really care about the money it is just an added bonus. Especially at the beginning of someones career, they may not care about the paycheck they just want to please there boss and maybe work there way up the food chain.

I am motivated exteranally through my paychecks at my jobs. I'm a college student and the only reason I work my two jobs is to pay for my schooling, so there really is not incentive motivation behind that. I do strive for praise from my bosses and customers, which is another form of extrinsic behavior. An example of intrinsic motivation for me is reading because I enjoy doing it and if there is an excess reward behind it, its an added bonus. For example, the book I am reading in this class, The Kite Runner, is a book I had already bought and was just starting to read. So now I can do something I enjoy and I will get to talk about it for a grade. Thats an unexpected bonus. Another intrinsic example is by staying in school, persistence creates greater motivation to do well in school and to finish for a feeling of greater potential. This chapter will change how I feel about school and career success by helping me figure out ways to motivate myself. Now that I am aware of the different ways to create motivation, and the different regulations in the cognitive evaluation theory, it will (hopefully) be easier to motivate myself to continue working through all my classes to get me to my goal of my dream career (extrinsic) and a feeling of greater self worth because I finished college and worked hard (intrinsic).

Terms: Intirinsic, extrinisc, motivation, cognitive evaluation theory, operant conditioning, rewards, punishers, reinforcers, extrinisic regulation, introjected regulation, identified regulation, integrated regulation

Ch. 5 was all about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. The chapter started talking about intrinsic motivation and what it is. Intrinsic motivation is defined as the motivation to engage in one's interests and to seek out one's capacities. To sum intrinsic motivation up, I would define it as the motivation that someone has from within. People experience intrinisic motivation because these people will have psychological needs that they need to fulfill in order to feel satisfied. An example of intrinsic motivation would be a professional athlete training by themself to get better because they want to be as good as they can be. Extrinsic motivation is the motivation that comes from the environment. This type of motivation can come from other people, society, or etc. Examples of extrinsic motivation can be money, trophies, etc. It then went into talking about incentives and reinforcer. Incentives can attract or repel people from doing something. Reinforcers increase behavior. Ch. 5 also talked about punishers which says it decreases teh future probability of the undesired behavior. On the other hand of punishers, rewards were also talked about. They are pretty much the opposite of punishers and are defined as anything that one person gives to another so that they will do whatever.

I thought that the most interesting and surprising thing I found in the chapter was the example of the 8 year old wearing their orthodontic device. The whole study was about reinforcers. The parents kept track of when the child would wear the orthodontic device. The child wore it very little when there were no reinforcers. After praising the child for wearing it, it went up a little bit. Then when money was involved, it went up past half the time. It went up to almost %100 of the time when money was rewarded at the time of seeing the child wear it. I knew that it would go up when offering reinforcers but I did not realize that it would go up that much.

I think that it is pretty obvious that you can be intrinsically motivated but still being paid for the event. Most professional athletes are intrinsically motivated to win and money is an afterthought to that. I think the person that exemplifies that is Michael Jordan. He won 3 straight championships and the game wasn't fun to him anymore. He wanted a new challenge so he decided to play minor league baseball for a major decrease in money. He would be paid heavily in basketball but changed what sport he was going to play. He went back to basketball when that hunger for winning came back so to me, yes you can be inrinsically motivated and paid.

An example of me being intrinsically motivated is getting good grades in school. I understand that the reward of this is graduation but I try to get better grades than what I have to because it does make you feel better about yourself. An example of extrinsic motivation for me is work. I work in the summer and even though I like some of it there are some things I would not do if I wasn't getting paid. Nobody wants to work for free. I think that most people will say this same thing.

This chapter will change how I think about motivation because I will now look at what I want to do and see if it will challenge me and not just doing it for a paycheck. I have felt so far that my classes have challenged me and they aren't too easy. But when I think of my career, I would rather do something that I like and make some money than to do something I don't like at all and make a lot of money. Doing something challenging is very important in psychological terms because if it is all extrinsic motivation, you will show lesser results than with intrinsic motivation. The example I look at in the book is the children being rewarded with stuff when drawing. Better results occur when it comes from within than in the environment.

Terms: Intrinsic, Extrinsic, Reinforcer, Punisher, Reward, Incentive, Praise

Terms: intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, operant conditioning, incentive, consequence, reinforcement, punishment, positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, aversive punishment, cost-response punishment, external regulation, introspection regulation, identified regulation, integrated regulation, cognitive-evaluation theory, psychological needs, autonomy, relatedness, competence, informational aspect, controlling aspect

Chapter 5 of the textbook describes intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and how these factors affect each other. Intrinsic motivation is the inherent tendency to engage ones interests and to exercise ones capacities and to seek out and master optimal challenges. On the other hand, extrinsic motivation is an environmentally created reason to initiate or persist in an action. The chapter also explains the difference between positive reinforcers, negative reinforcers, punishers, and rewards. For instance, when a positive reinforcement is presented, it increases the probability of a future desired behavior, while when a negative reinforcement is removed, it also increased the probability of a future desired behavior. However, punishers act to decrease the probability of future undesired behavior. Rewards differentiate from positive reinforcement by there is an exchange for the service or achievement. Chapter 5 also talks about the benefits and disadvantages of these extrinsic motivational regulations. The reading also proposes the Cognitive Evaluation Theory when looking at extrinsic motivation. This theory basically states that an extrinsic motivator shapes, influences, and controls another person’s behavior, and to understand this the chapter goes over the theory’s 3 propositions of external events.

I was surprised to learn that there are hidden costs of rewards. For instance, when a person who does something out of interest, intrinsic motivation, becomes rewarded for such behavior, extrinsic motivation, they no longer seek out that interest. This was surprising to me because you’d think someone would enjoy getting rewarded for something they enjoy doing, but in fact it’s just the opposite. Since intrinsic motivation stems greatly from a person’s psychological needs, it makes sense that a person’s well-being may be affected because that enjoyment of the behavior fades away and becomes something done for extrinsic purposes. So leading to the next question if it’s possible to be intrinsically motivated yet still be paid, it’s very unlikely. According to the Cognitive Evaluation Theory, for intrinsic motivation to thrive, both competence and autonomy must be high, and external events need to be noncontrolling and informational. In this case, being paid for something you enjoy doing is affecting the persons psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness, and more importantly, their well-being.

Something that keeps me intrinsically motivated is reading before bedtime. Normally, I don’t get the chance to read during the day due to a busy schedule, but knowing I have a stack of book waiting for me when I come home keeps my spirits up. Not only do I just enjoy reading, but I also do it before bedtime in order to calm down and feel sleepy. If I didn’t have the chance to read before bedtime because of external events, such as homework or loud noises, then I can definitely feel the effects of my psychological needs diminish. On the other hand, something that keeps me extrinsically motivated to do homework is that fact that I’ll get a bad grade, my parents will harass me about the bad grade, have a lower GPA, and grad programs won’t look at my application. Pretty far-fetched, but it’s what my mind goes through every time an assignment is given. I have definitely been operantly conditioned throughout my school years that in order to succeed you must get good grades/do well in school. My incentive for getting good grades arose after my parents would congratulate me on my work and so I wouldn’t have to do my chore. Therin, my negative reinforcer was that fact that my parents would take away my chores after doing well on a school project.

After reading this chapter, I have gained much insight into how I need to change my current behavior in order to achieve my future goals. Instead of looking towards the future, I need to focus more on what is happening now. For example, I have spent too much time wondering what my career should be instead of doing things now to make me marketable for a career. From learning about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, I can now look for ways to engage in proactive behavior that will lead me to my future goal.

TERMS: intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, positive reinforcers, negative reinforcers, punishers, rewards, cognitive evaluation theory, hidden costs of rewards, psychological needs, competence and autonomy, noncontrolling, informational, well-being, operantly conditioned, incentive

Chapter five talks all about two main types of motivation, intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation is engaging interests through activities that enhance one’s challenges in a positive way because that individual did it spontaneously for their own pleasure. It emerges from people’s psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness and is important because it has four benefits that result from being intrinsically motivated which are persistence, creativity, conceptual understanding, and subjective well being. All these factors can be highly displayed when a person is interested in what they are doing, such as staying in school and becoming interested in what is being studied to help think more flexibly, less rigid, and in a conceptual way to think more creatively while leading to better functioning and psychological well being. Extrinsic motivation comes from external incentives and consequences that drive our behavior to initiate or persist in an action. There are two types of consequences that drive behavior in a certain way, reinforcers and punishers. Reinforcers are any extrinsic event that increases this behavior and that depend on their quality as well as how they are to be delivered in order to work correctly. Positive reinforcers, when presented, help increase the probability of the desired behavior happening again and negative reinforcers, when removed, increase the probability of the desired behavior. Punishers decrease the probability of the undesired behavior when they are presented, such as going to jail for acting wrongly. Rewards are simply gifts given in hopes to increase the probability of the desired behavior, but don’t always work and are rather seen is potential motivators. It is better to be intrinsically motivated than extrinsically because extrinsic motivation can have a negative effect on future intrinsic motivation, interfere with the process of learning, development of autonomous self-regulation, and create a reward-dependent behavior. But intrinsic motivation is only decreased when an award is expected or tangible and should be administered in a controlling or informational way if trying to make an uninteresting task interesting. There are four types of extrinsic motivation: external regulation (not at all autonomous), introjected regulation (somewhat autonomous), identified regulation (mostly autonomous), and integrated regulation (fully autonomous). Overall, one should always try to keep a high intrinsic motivation when doing whatever it is they need or want to do in order to keep a high knowledge and effort of what is at hand.

The most interesting thing I learned from chapter 5 was how much we are affected when using extrinsic motivation to guide our behavior through a task. I was surprised to learn the “hidden cost of reward” actually interferes with our process of learning because instead of learning flexibly and creatively, we are just going for the facts to receive an award instead of actually gathering and learning knew information. It also surprises me that it can interfere with a person’s development of autonomous self-regulation, which causes the person to become dependent on receiving an award in order to have a behavior occur, which is the reward-dependent behavior, and presence versus absence of an award regulates behavior rather than intrinsic motivation and autonomous self-regulation.

It is possible to be intrinsically motivated and still get paid, as long as the individual is still engaging strong interest and focus on the task rather than the reward itself. Also, how the money is given determines if the individual will stay intrinsically motivated or not. An example would be an artist who loves his/her work and has turned a hobby into a career by receiving money for this work.

Some examples of how we are intrinsically and extrinsically motivated is either through work and school. We can be intrinsically motivated to go to work and learn a new task in order to have the ability to perform that new task later with more creativity and confidence, but are extrinsically motivated through paychecks and possible raises that help keep our desire to come to work and pay for things we need later. With school, we can be intrinsically motivated to want to learn about information we are interested and be able to apply that information within our career or everyday tasks and are extrinsically motivated through receiving good grades, graduating, and hopes of having a high paying job after college.

This chapter has made me rethink on how I am going to engage myself in class lectures and read textbook chapters by not thinking of just receiving a good grade, but how I can take that new knowledge and apply it to the real world. I will also take my interests and apply them to tasks that are not interesting as to try and motivate myself with those uninteresting tasks as positively as I can, such as playing The Beatles and dancing while putting all my laundry away.

Terms: intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, autonomy, competence, relatedness, persistence, creativity, conceptual understanding, subjective well being, external incentives, consequences, reinforcers, positive reinforcers, negative reinforcers, rewards, reward-dependent behavior, external regulation, introjected regulation, identified regulation, and integrated regulation

Chapter five discusses how we differ in the way we are motivated to participate in different activities. Intrinsic motivations are motivations which benefit and are triggered by our interests and help with our desire to grow. A persons intrinsic motivations affects their ability to be creative, persistence, conceptual understanding and well being. Being extrinsically motivated revolves around incentives, reinforcers, rewards and consequences. People are motivated differently and finding ways to motivate others and ourselves can be done through rewards and regulations.

The most interesting thing I found throughout this chapter was the idea that withing every environment we find a way to discriminate between desirable and undesirable behaviors. Through the different social contexts and interactions we find a way to direct our behavior and be motivated to do something.

Examples of how I am intrinsically motivated are by personal achievement with academics and my occupation. I am a waitress and my personal need to please my customers needs while working is an internal motivator. I do think we can me intrinsically motivated because I feel that by my personal desire to please people I am both internal and externally motivated to achieve this.

Examples of how I am extrinsic motivated is while waitressing I know that my positive attitude will increase my tip percentage. The behavioral contract with myself seems to be more with personal achievement and environmental influence. I am also motivated when I get a bad grade. This is the consequence of a lack of studying or attending class but then it reinforces me to study more for my next exam.

Reading this chapter has allowed me to realize that I can change the way I am motivated about attending class and achieving a good grades. The incentives of getting a good grade allows me to move closer to achieving my degree. Because the job market seems to be lacking job openings obtaining good grades reinforces me to keep pushing myself. The tangible reward of having a degree means I will be able to obtain a better job then those without a degree. Even though I know about motivation I think it will still be difficult to change my habits. I will need to take advantage of rewarding myself when I develop different goals.

Terms: Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, rewards, consequences, behavioral contract, incentives, creativity, well-being, conceptual understanding.

Chapter 5 focuses on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and how these forces compel us do complete every day tasks. Humans are not always motivated from within (intrinsic motivation) so researchers also focus on outside forces that motivate us (extrinsic motivation). Intrinsic motivation comes from the interest a person has in performing a task. It is normally spontaneous and used to fulfill a psychological need. The psychological needs are broken down into three groups: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Extrinsic motivation is based off of incentives and consequences in the environment. For example, a letter grade in a class, stickers, or raises. In dealing with extrinsic motivation, one acts because for “B” to happen “A” needs to occur first. Individuals crave the “B” whether it is recognition, a trophy, or what have you.

An Important topic in motivation is the regulation. In this chapter, it is discussed how incentives and operant conditioning play a role. The situation can create a cue for a certain reaction for a person, which causes a consequence, which can be positive or negative. This is the idea of operant conditioning. The consequence from the reaction can tell a person to do that again or to not do that again if he or she is in the same situation. The incentives come into play before the behavior/response of the situation. Throughout this chapter the concept of positive and negative reinforcement, punishment and rewards are very important. This idea is the meat and potatoes of operant conditioning. Positive reinforcement causes these reactions to reoccur if given positive feedback. Negative reinforcement as well as with positive reinforcement increases the possibility that the reaction with occur more often. The only difference is that a stimulus is removed from the environment for this to occur. Punishment focuses on the decrease of a response to an undesirable stimulus.

I do believe it is possible to be intrinsically motivated when being paid for something. The first example that came into my mind was an artist. Artists have a deep connection to what they are painting, constructing, or drawing in the first place. They were brought to the canvas by intrinsic motivation and they are kept at the canvas by extrinsic motivation (if they are being paid for it). It was also stated by Reeve, that it slightly is a blurred line between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Sometimes it isn’t that easy to decipher what motivated an individual to their actions.

I am intrinsically motivated to do things such as spending time with my friends and family and listening to music. I enjoy doing these things and I am not looking to get something out of it from the environment. I could think of many more examples of extrinsic motivation in my life. I am motivated in academically extrinsically. It seems as though a lot of the work that I put into school is done for the grade and the opportunity to graduate. I also find extrinsic motivation in my workplace. I work in retail; much of what we do is monitored by our sales. Every month we must meet a certain percentage for our sales. The autonomy involved does give me some intrinsic motivation, yet for the most part I am motivated by the desire to impress my managers as well as not getting into trouble.

It is important for me to use intrinsic motivation, after reading this chapter, in school and my future career. Reeve states that it leads to many benefits for a person such as persistence, creativity, conceptual understanding and subjective well-being. The persistence would be able to help me stay focused and stick with what goals I may be driven towards in school. The creativity element would help with actually enjoying and finding the exciting areas within my career, or even some of the information or classes in school that I may not find quite as interesting. Intrinsic motivation also can create a more flexible learner. As of right now, I basically just try to memorize information for tests or assignments, but don’t completely think of the information in terms of a concept that can be molded into something I understand. The conceptual understanding and high-quality learning would be a great focus to excel in any profession. The final subtopic of intrinsic motivation is optimal functioning and well-being. This final concept is one that I find to be most important with living a fulfilling and happy life. When one works off of intrinsic motivation they understand themselves more, have better relationships, and have a higher self-esteem, just to name a few. This idea to build up my autonomy and have a high enough self-concept that I know I can do a good job in school and my job would be the best feeling that I can think of. The intrinsic motivation feedback is well worth digging deep to find motivation from within the individual. So basically, it would change my focus from depending on outside forces for a reinforcement to motivate me to do what I need to and to do a good job, I would be happier as a person if I found that motivation within myself.

Terms used: Intrinsic Motivation, extrinsic motivation, persistence, and creativity. Conceptual understanding/ high-quality learning, optimal functioning and well-being, operant conditioning, incentives, positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, punishment, rewards

Chapter 5 of our book continues to talk about needs, specifically psychological needs. There are three components to psychological needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Autonomy is the idea that we want to be in charge of our own decisions and ideas. Competence is the drive that people have to interact effectively with their surroundings; basically we just want to fit in. Relatedness means that everyone wants to belong and have friends. We want to have relationships. When all three of these needs are met through, possibly through engagement, people are happy and satisfied.

The most interesting thing I learned is that something as simple as a good or positive relationship with someone can make a huge difference in our lives. When we feel like we run our lives, fit in, and have friends our psychological needs are met. Seriously, it’s as easy as 1,2, 3. But some people still don’t feel content because some of the needs may only be partially met leaving someone to feel underappreciated and searching for more needs to be met.

Being intrinsically motivated means motivating yourself from the inside. I am intrinsically motivated to workout at least five times a week. I feel worthless and disgusting if I don’t get a good workout in during the day. It helps to release my endorphins which give me positive feelings. I am also intrinsically motivated to eat, this of course makes up for my working out! My body or mind tells me I’m hungry so I have to eat. I am intrinsically motivated to be a positive person. If I believe my cup is half full then my days will be a lot better and I will be less stressed.

On the opposite side there is extrinsic motivation which is motivation that comes from outside and individual. I am extrinsically motivated to go to class every day because I know I am spending a lot of money on those classes and I need to make it worth it. I am also extrinsically motivated to go to work every day because I will get paid, therefore I can spend money on food, rent, and social things. I use money as an incentive for a lot of things. The consequence could be bad if I didn’t have money to afford my life style.

After completing this chapter I will look at how I motivate myself differently. I will set up different negative or positive reinforcers to keep me on track with my goals. I may start putting more of my pay check in my savings account, which may be aversive at first and seem like a negative reinforcer but in the long run it will be a positive reinforcer when I am able to do activities and study abroad because I have saved enough money to go. I will also look for autonomy, competence, and relatedness after graduation when looking for a job. I want to be happy in my career and like going to work every day so I will need to have my psychological needs met.

Terms: psychological needs, extrinsic motivation, intrinsic motivation, consequence, incentive, positive reinforcer, negative reinforcer, autonomy, competence, relatedness

Chapter 5 talked about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is the inherent propensity to engage one’s interest and to exercise one’s capacities and, in doing so, to seek out and master optimal challenges. Basically it is what will you do without a reward. The high a person’s intrinsic motivation the greater their persistence to complete their task will be. Persistence is continually sticking with the event, event with the event of failure, until the task is accomplished.

Extrinsic motivation arises from environmental incentives and consequences, such as food, money, praise, attention, and etc. Basically extrinsic motivation is by doing this, you will receive this. There are 3 concepts that go along with external motivation: incentive, consequence, and rewards. An incentive is an environmental event that attracts or repels a person toward or away from initiating a particular course of action. There are 2 types of consequences positive and negative reinforcers. Positive Reinforcers are any environmental stimulus that, when added, increases the future probability of the desired behavior. An example of a positive reinforcer is money or a scholarship. A negative reinforcer is any environmental stimulus that, when removed, increases the future probability of the desired behavior. An example of a negative reinforcer is crying or having to meet a deadline. The third concept to extrinsic motivation is rewards. Rewards are any offering from one person given to another person in exchange for their service or achievement.

There are 4 types of extrinsic motivations: External Regulation, Introjected Regulation, Identified Regulation, and Integrated Regulation. External regulated behaviors are performed to obtain a reward or to satisfy some external demand. Introjected is essentially being motivated out of guilt. Identified regulation represents mostly internalized and autonomous extrinsic motivation. Integrated regulation constitutes the most autonomously endorsed type of extrinsic motivation. An example the book gave was recycling newspaper, you don’t want to but it is better for the environment if I do.

I feel like you can be intrinsically motivated to do something and still get paid. For example, when you are working at your job and you work extra hard on your task and go above and beyond because your task is important and can help the company, but you aren’t getting paid extra to work on this task.

I feel like I am intrinsically motivated when I help out with the UNI softball team because I do not get paid for doing the job, yes I get to travel and I get gear for helping, but getting the gear is so I fit in and look like a member of the team and when I travel I am still helping out the team, not traveling for pleasure.

For me I’m not having to pay for my schooling, so you can see how there could be a possibility that it’s not my money, so I wouldn’t be as motivated to do well, but for me I don’t want to let my family down and fail. People worked hard for me to be able to not have to pay for college, so I’m not just going to go and fail out, I feel motivated to do well.

Terms Used: Intrinsic Motivation, Extrinsic Motivation, Persistence, Positive Reinforcers, Negative Reinforcers, Rewards, Consequence, Incentive, External Regulation, Introjected Regulation, Identified Regulation, and Integrated Regulation

Chapter 5 continues talking about needs, but more specifically the two types of motivation that we experience to satiate our needs. Intrinsic motivation is an internal process, we have drive and energy to do things because they are important to us and we have internalized them as good. Extrinsic motivation is external to ourselves and is a system of incentives and regulations that affect our behavior. We learn, through extrinsic motivators, how to act in our environment. As a hedonistic species, we learn to direct energy towards what brings us pleasure and away from things that bring pain or unsatisfactory things. Chapter 5 also talks about the psychological needs of competence, autonomy, and relatedness and how the different types of motivation work with them.

I was surprised that were was no differentiation between types of punishers. Since there are positive and negative reinforcers, it only makes sense that there would be positive and negative punishers as well. I'm sure we've all heard something along the lines of "If you don't stop doing _____, I'm going to take away _______". It's negative because it's removal of something in the environment, and it's a punisher because it reduces (or so the punisher hopes) the frequency of the behavior. Telling a child "Don't hit your sister or I'll spank you" would be a positive punisher, or something that will decrease hitting behaviors with the addition of an aversive consequence.

The most interesting thing to me is cognitive evaluation theory, which I'm still not sure that I have a grasp on yet. It basically states that all external event are both controlling and informative, but I don't understand the purpose of the propositions.

I think it is very possible to be intrinsically motivated to do something and still get paid for it. As much as I hate my job, I still feel bad when I have to call in or something comes up and I am late. Some of my coworkers stroll in late from time to time, don't take much initiative to get things other than their specific job done, and do just what they need to do to keep their job and get paid. Both those coworkers and myself make about the same amount and none of us are in any danger of getting fired, but I feel bad when I don't agree to stay late or when I don't take initiative to help others get their job done. I'm still motivated to go in and do my job and at least do it well even though I know it really won't have any effect on my pay or employment status, which are the incentives for the job in the first place.

As I was reading through the chapter I was applying the concepts of motivation to my daily activities and one of the things I've recently started doing is lifting weights. I have very low intrinsic motivation to go bust my butt getting all sweaty lifting heavy things until I'm exhausted. To me, that does not sound fun at all, especially in a crowded weight room full of huge guys benching more than what I weigh. The feeling that they're probably judging me for using baby weights would be enough to keep me out. On top of that, my competence for what to do once I get there is limited and, as a human, one of my needs in competence. However, I value being a healthy individual, and physical strength is one of the areas I'm severely lacking in. It started out as a sort of identified regulation. I knew I should do it because I value and have internalized the outcome, just not the means. Knowing that I have no desire to go lift by myself, I signed up for a WRC fitness class that provides an instructor to give me the skills to become competent and, eventually, autonomous so I can go lift with another person and know what I'm doing. It also provides a lot of external motivation to make up for my lack of internal motivation. I don't want to miss class because having super-tiny classes isn't quite as fun and I don't want the instructor to feel like she's wasting her time. I've started to get more internally motivated because now I have new goals and challenges I want to overcome on a personal level, like adding more weight onto all my exercises and being able to do them with more skill and less focus on whether or not I'm doing them correctly.

I definitely need to work on how I motivate myself to get homework done. I use a lot of extrinsic regulators, like "Homework first, Chive (Facebook/email/etc) later and go through the motions of my school work so I can get onto more pleasurable things. I need to direct my focus back to the "I'm doing this for X and Y reasons in order to achieve Z life goal" and tap into the intrinsic motivators for going to college in the first place.

Terms: Psychological needs, intrinsic/extrinsic motivation, competence, autonomy, relatedness, positive/negative reinforcers, punishers, incentive, drive, energy, behavior, identified regulation, hedonistic, cognitive evaluation theory.

Chapter five was a very interesting chapter as we are effected by the contents of this chapter every single day of our lives and it is very noticeable. Chapter five discusses the principles and ideologies behind extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Starting with intrinsic motivation Reeves discusses the different areas that intrinsic motivation effects. Persistence is one and it is increased when intrinsic motivation is increased through a direct relationship. Creativity is another aspect and it is very diminished when external events control internal creativity. When it comes to learning at a high level it is very beneficial and effective when the learner is intrinsically motivated to learn. Of course well-being and functioning are at high level when a person is intrinsically motivated. The idea of being extrinsically motivated can be very complex and come in several different forms. Simply defined, extrinsic motivation is an environmentally created reason to initiate an action. While being pleased with yourself is a really good way to stay motivated, extrinsic motivation can have a very profound effect on just about anybody. Things like money, food, attention, promotions, awards, prizes, and other such things are enjoyed by just about every person. Th reason the "do this and get that" motivation is effective is because there is a means to an end. Do your job and receive a paycheck means do your job for two weeks to meet standards and you will receive money and the option to do it again for another two weeks. When talking about external motivation we have to discuss three regulators of external motivation. They are Incentives, Consequences, and Rewards. Incentives are environmental events that attract or repel a person towards or from a particular course of action. The value of an incentive is a learned concept. The example in the book states that car horns do not necessarily scare people until they learn that it could mean impending disaster. We are conditioned to respond negatively or positively to incentives. When talking about the next regulator, consequences, we have to talk about reinforcers. Reinforcers are anything that increases a particular behavior. They can be both positive or negative in nature. Positive reinforcers, like money, provide a positive reinforcing consequence of working at a job. An alarm clock is a negative reinforcers that increases timeliness in rising from sleep. Another aspect of consequences are punishers. They are simply defined as an event that decreases behavior. There is much debate over the difference between negative reinforcement and punishers. It is hard to define which is being employed in many situations like for example when parents correct their children. Is it criticism like punishing or a reminder like a negative reinforcer. This is a very interesting point and drew much debate with myself while reading this section of the chapter. Next the chapter addressed the idea of "hidden cost of rewards". This is a very interesting concept to tackle but essentially it is when someone is intrinsically motivated to complete a task but then starts receiving extrinsic motivation for it. Researchers have found that it does not create an enhanced double motivation but rather it inhibits intrinsic motivation instead. Another subpoint of hidden cost are the implications of expected and tangible rewards. Research finds that when a reward is expected and not received in the perceived way or amount almost all motivation is lost, a terrible truth of our modern society. All of these regulators have their benefits to them. Rewards and incentives make boring tasks inviting if the reward is prorated and the task isn't too risky to well-being and consequences are goods ways to push somebody to accomplish tasks. This chapter talks about a few theories associated with intrinsic/extrinsic motivations/. The first is Cognitive Evaluation Theory. This theory asserts that all external events have a controlling aspect and an informational aspect. This allows people to govern part of the situation while also allowing them to feel competent as well. This theory is discussed more in depth with the three propositions. This theory is also controlled by factors such as praise and competition which are both very influential in evaluation external events.Finally there are four types of external motivation. First External regulation is as simple as completing a task to gain an incentive or consequence. Second, introjected regulation is a feeling of guilt so a task is completed. Third, Identified regulation is determining that a task is important and should be completed. Fourth, Integrated regulation is the idea that it will be completed because the individuals values the action.
The question about being intrinsically motivated while being paid is a tough one to answer. However, I believe this is when individuals express the famous quote, "Do something you love and you will never work a day in your life." This shows the power of being intrinsically motivated to do a job and as a bonus you are being paid to do it. Some ways I motivate myself is through relaxation rewards. I give myself an enjoyable relaxation experience after every task I complete to keep me going and I use the Identified Regulation of extrinsic motivation to get myself going again. To intrinsically motivate myself to exercise I use persistence to complete a usually tough task because I know will be satisfied with myself to complete it. Even though I was already very aware of particular motivations to engage myself in task completion I believe my understanding is now well developed and I can effectively and quickly identify what I need to do to get myself down the path of success.

Terms Used:Intrinsic/Extrinsic motivation, persistence, incentives, consequences, rewards,reinforcers, punishers, hidden cost of rewards, tangible and expected rewards, cognitive evaluation theory

Chapter 5 is titled “Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations”. The main discussions in this chapter generate around external events and how they generate motivational states. This leads to the basic idea of when a desirable incentive is at stake, people do what they need to do in order to obtain the incentive. The same idea goes for an aversive incentive; people do what they have to do in order to avoid the irritant. Intrinsic motivation is when an individual acts out of interest. When an individual feels the need to seek out a challenge in order to complete the activity at hand, they are intrinsically motivated. Four processes that go along with intrinsic motivation include; persistence, creativity, conceptual understanding/high-quality learning and well-being. Extrinsic motivation comes from environmental incentives and consequences. These include; money, praise, food, attention, extra credit, and various incentive plans. This style of motivation is often paired with a “what’s in it for me?” attitude. The answer is typically a desirable incentive or the removal of an aversive incentive. There are negative and positive reinforcement when it comes to intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. A positive reinforcer is an environmental event that is likely to increase the probability of that behavior to occur again in the future. A negative reinforcer is an event that is likely to decrease the probability of that behavior to occur again in the future. The chapter closes with methods on how to motivate others during activities that they are not interested in. Researchers have attempted to educate why “uninteresting events” may be helpful and/or beneficial to oneself and the environment. Once the researchers have developed an interest with the individuals, they are able to produce new methods for them to find the activity more interesting.

The most interesting topic that I read about in Chapter 5 is about building interest. I found this to be an enjoyable topic to read about because I feel that I am constantly expanding my interests. However, there are some topics that I could not be more uninterested in learning about, such as, sports and politics especially. After reading the section about interest I am able to identify why I may be so uninterested in them. That is because I do not know much about either of them. My individual interests include, cooking, being outdoors, and art. I have been interested in these subjects for quite some time and this has created them to develop into things specific to my interests. For example, I don’t like all forms of cooking. I prefer cooking with vegetables and noodles, not meat. From this finding, I will direct my cooking attention further by trying new recipes with ingredients I know I like.

I definitely think it is possible to be intrinsically motivated while being paid. The book refers to intrinsic motivation as the motivation that occurs when an individual acts out of interest. The first career that came to mind was artists. Many of them to not get paid very well and the field is very competitive. However, I do not think they would do it unless they really loved it, especially with how expensive art school is. Going to college with the expectation of being broke after graduating and knowing how difficult it is to find a promising career, that takes intrinsic motivation.

I am intrinsically motivated to get better at rock climbing. I climb two to three times a week for at least two hours each time. By becoming belay certified I am able to climb with friends more frequently and not require assistance from the WRC staff. By buying my own rock climbing shoes, I am intrinsically motivated to wear them not have to rent ones that have been worn for years by other people. I enjoy the challenge of following a route, learning new ways to use your body, and most of all surprising yourself.

I am extrinsically motivated to go to work. I work in the Union at Chat’s (the coffee shop). It is a fun job and I work with great people. However, I am really not fond of wearing an apron, hat, and uniform. I do not receive a lot of money working there, but I do receive money and discounted coffee as a positive reinforcer. I don’t like leaving work and smelling like a dirty coffee bean, but the money and the people I work with make it worth it.

Information from this chapter will help me in the decision making process when I am looking for a job. I have already started looking in the human services field and a lot of those jobs would require intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. You would have to enjoy challenge and thrive on new work on a daily basis, which would require intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation would come from the amount of money I would receive and the work experience. I have looked into working with youth that have behavioral disorders and I am extrinsically motivated to try and get this job in order to gain the work experience. However, because I have not worked in this field, I’m not sure how intrinsically motivated I would be. The challenge would be a thrill at first because it is something new, but working with children that have lived very hard lives, that would be difficult to be surrounded with daily.

TERMS: intrinsic, extrinsic, motivation, generate, desirable, aversive, incentive, irritant, persistence, creativity, conceptual understanding, well-being, negative reinforcer, positive reinforcer, behavior, interest

Chapter 5 discusses intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation devlelops from internal psychological needs. When these needs are fulfilled, people experience psychological need satisfaction. Autonomy, competence and relatedness are the 3 origins of Intrinsic motivation. This type of motivation occurs spontaneously, and when it is nurtured it provides immense benefits to emotional and intellectual well-being.

Extrinsic motivation is a result of external stimuli, which are categorized as incentives, consequences or rewards. Incentives are motivators that occur prior to behavior, such as the smell walking past a restaraunt. Consequences are either reinforcers or punishers. A positive reinforcer is an external stimulus that increases the probability of a behavior when it occurs, such as money. Negative reinforcers increase this probablility when they are removed, such as a baby crying. Punishers discourae behavior when presented, such as jail. A reward is an attempt of one person to produce a desired behavior from another person by offering them positive incentive such as a bonus. The book describes extrinsic motivation as an ends to a means, the ends being an attractive consequence and the means being a specific behavior.
Two theories discussed in this chapter regarding intrinsic and extrinsic motivation are the cognitive evaluation Theory and The Self-determination theory. The cognitive evaluation theory describes ways in which extrinsic motivation influences intrinsic motivation. If the external motivation is presented in a controlling way(such as criticism), it negatively affects autonomy and decreases intrinsic motivation. If it is presented in an informational way (such as praise)it positively affects feelings of competence and increases intrinsic motivation.
Self determination theory seperates extrinsic motivation into 4 categories, each catergory a different degree of self-regulatedness. The more self-related a person's extrinsic motivation, the greater the person's pyshological and social well-being.

Yes it is possibe to be paid and still intrinsically motivated,if interest in the paid activity can be developed, and informational external motivation is also present.

I am currently studying the same issue in my social psychology class. We are currently researching a study in which children were rewarded for playing with a high interest toy with candy, and not rewarded for playing with a low interest toy. When the candy rewards were removed, children's playtime with the high interest toy decreased, but not with the low interest toy. This was compared to and intial play session where no rewards were offered. This demonstrates how controlling extrinsic motivation negatively affects intrinsic motivation, which was the most interesting subject int he chapter for me.

Terms: extrinsic motivation, Intrinsic motivation, reward, incentive, consequence, cognitive evalutation theory, self determination theory, external regulation, Introjected regulation, Identified regulation, Integrated regulation, reinforcer

Chapter 6

This whole chapter was about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (hence the chapter title) and what elements go into each as well as how to improve or enhance motivation to get the desired behavior you wish for. Intrinsic motivation emerges from psychological needs. It’s the drive inside us that get us to do the things we want to do.

Intrinsic motivation is important for a couple of reasons. The main one being it has an effect on persistence. Persistence is how long and hard you stick to or work on one certain activity. Intrinsic motivation increases the level of persistence a person has on any given task. Intrinsic motivation also inspires better creativity.

Extrinsic motivation on the other hand is driven by external/ environmental incentives and consequences. Examples of this would be food, money, gold stars, awards or things like that. There are also ways to regulate motivation. One way is to offer an incentive. An incentive is an environmental event that attracts or repels a person toward or away from doing something. Another way is consequences which can come in the form of positive or negative reinforcers. A positive reinforce is an environmental stimulus that increases the future likelihood of the desired behavior. While a negative reinforcer is an environmental stimulus that increases the desired behavior when it is removed. Examples of each of these would be a reward for a positive reinforcement and a punishment for a negative reinforcement.

I like this chapter because I like both of the concepts of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Obviously the best form of motivation is intrinsic but I believe that extrinsic motivation if done in the right way can increase intrinsic motivation. I also believe someone who chooses a career that they love and are intrinsically motivated to do will still love that activity and be intrinsically motivated even if they get a paycheck.

Terms: intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, persistence, creativity, incentives, consequences, positive reinforcers, negative reinforcers, reward, punishment

Chapter 5 discusses two types of motivations, intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, and states that we have innate tendencies to approach rewards and to avoid punishers. Many people nowadays are unmotivated, bored in their routines, and must turn to their environment for motivators.

Intrinsic motivations come from inside the person. Extrinsic motivations are from external sources, usually rewards one can touch, taste, feel, and hear, and so on. The book uses examples of extrinsic motivators in the cases of school and work settings. At school, one may receive stickers or praise in addition to grades, and at the workplace, one could encounter paychecks, raises, or even threats of termination. Intrinsic involves self, while extrinsic usually involves others or outside sources. According to the textbook, intrinsic motivators emerge spontaneously from our psychological needs and innate strivings for growth and cause feelings of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. This type of motivation leads to and includes four things: persistence, creativity, conceptual understanding, and subjective well-being.
Extrinsic motivation involves environmental incentives and consequences (e.g. money, food, candy, prizes, praise, and so on). The text described this type of motivation as the “What’s in it for me?” type. This type of motivation relies on operant conditioning, the process by which a person learns to effectively operate in an environment. We learn that the formula S:R-->C following operant conditioning, states that the situational cue (incentive)sets the occasion for the behavioral response, and causes the consequence, thus, the value we put on S is learned through conditioning.

Reinforcers, by definition, are extrinsic events that increase behavior. However, we learn in chapter 5 that there are six reasons why reinforcers work to increase behavior that are subject to situation. These reasons are: decrease drive ( eat food, decrease hunger), decrease arousal (drug given to reduce anxiety), increase arousal (concert reinforces behavior because it’s exciting), attractive to that person (money is valuable, thus attractive), produces pleasurable brain stimulation (electrical stimulation of the medial forebrain bundle produces pleasure, therefore is a reinforcer), and lastly, provides an opportunity to perform high-frequency behavior (child is promised TV time if she finishes her homework). Reinforcers are contingent on six factors: quality, immediacy, person/reinforcer “fit”, need, intensity, and the recipient’s value of the particular reinforcer. There are positive and negative reinforcers: positive increases future probability of desired behavior and negative, when removed, then also increases probability of future behavior. Associated with negative reinforcers are escape behaviors, which are reactive to the negative event, and avoidance, which is proactive in the prevention of encountering the negative stimuli again.

Punishers and rewards are extrinsic motivators. Punishers include jail terms, fines, and so on which decrease future undesired behavior. An example of response cost is a drunk driver losing his license. Rewards are offerings in exchange for service or achievement, but are better if seen as potential motivators.

We find in chapter 5 that yes, rewards do work due to the release of dopamine, which activates the BAS (behavioral activation system), increasing positive feelings, but can eventually decrease intrinsic motivation. On the other hand, punishments, namely corporal punishment aka spanking, does not. Although the initial, short-term effect is there, side-effects are always present. These can include crying, fear, impaired relationship between punisher and punished and negative modeling of coping strategies.

Cognitive Evaluation Theory states that all external events have both a controlling and informative aspect to them. Depending on the way the reward is administered and why determines whether the reward is for controlling behavior or for informing competence. For intrinsic motivation to flourish, the text states, competence and autonomy have to be high, and for those components to be high, a non-controlling and informative external event must be presented.

Self-Determination Theory lists three main types of motivation: amotivation (simply, without motivation), extrinsic, and intrinsic. Extrinsic motivation also has subtypes which vary by degree of autonomy are: external regulation (not @ all autonomous), introjected regulation (somewhat autonomous), identified regulation (mostly autonomous), and integrated regulation (fully autonomous). The main idea is the more autonomous a person’s motivation is, the more effort that person puts forth and the more he/she achieves.

In the event that uninteresting activities arise, leading to low motivation, explanatory rationales enhance effort. Giving a child a reason why he should do something puts a personal edge on it and may give him that little push to go do it. Two types of interest are: situational interest (short-term) and individual interest (develops over time, aided by knowledge).

I didn’t really find this chapter to be too surprising, but it was very in-depth regarding types and degrees, etc. other than the new terms, a lot of it was kind-of self-explanatory, yet still pretty interesting. Of course I believe people can be intrinsically and extrinsically motivated. You could love to work with children in a school setting and get a paycheck, just as a bonus (well, not really ONLY as a bonus). I have to say, I’m not a self-motivated person. Intrinsically, interesting subjects motivate me, and extrinsically, I do like money as well as recognition (especially from my daughters). After reading this chapter, I realize I need more motivation. I don’t think anything specifically will help though.

Terms: Intrinsic/extrinsic motivations, punishers, rewards, reinforcers, incentives, autonomy, competence, relatedness, operant conditioning, Cognitive Evaluation Theory, Self-Determination Theory, interest (situational/individual)

Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation stems from feelings of independence and environmental influences that encourage our motivation. Intrinsic and extrinsic are two ways to enjoy activities. Intrinsic motivation surfaces unexpectedly from psychological needs and our innate determination for growth. This includes a feeling of competence, independence, or a close relation to others.

I thought it was interesting to read about persistence; the higher a person’s intrinsic motivation, the greater their persistence. In my case, many people told me that taking 20 credits would drain me and I wouldn’t be able to do anything outside of school like work or have a social life. The challenges that this semester brings, are keeping me going, because I want to be able to say I did it.

Extrinsic motivation comes from environmental influences. This is where the token economy comes in handy. By giving people something to look forward to at school or work, such as paychecks, stickers or privileges, it motivates them to come back and work harder. Our society is based around extrinsic motivation. Everyone has either worked or gone to school at some point in their life. Therefore, they have experienced extrinsic motivation, whether they knew it or not.

Although we know intrinsic motivation is derived from spontaneous psychological needs and extrinsic motivation is derived from incentives, it is still hard to tell what the key motivator is. For instance, when I am working I am primarily there for the paycheck, but at the same time I make certain goals for myself within the day to exceed previous set goals at work. It is not because I am expecting a higher paycheck; it is because I want to challenge myself. So working can be seen as both. With this in mind, intrinsic motivation also “pays” you, just in a different sense. It supplements your positive feelings that encourage you to be more creative and persistent which are beneficial to any job. Intrinsic motivation can enable you to pursue a promotion, which in turn would pay you more.

I also thought it was interesting to learn about the implications of tangible rewards. Our society is quick to give rewards for small behaviors. We can work ourselves up the totem pole, however the more we are exposed to rewards, the less exciting they seem. In this respect, tangible rewards may decrease intrinsic motivations. This reminds me of someone that hates their job. They don’t work for the enjoyment or autonomy, but primarily for a paycheck.

Being aware of various motivators is motivation enough. I used to say I didn’t have any motivation to do anything. However, I am taking 8 classes in one semester, I work on the side, and I still make time for my family and friends. Without knowing it, I was unconsciously motivating myself to get up in the morning, because I knew the consequences if I didn’t, such as failing classes, not graduating, missing work and the like.

Terms: Intrinsic, extrinsic, motivation, token economy, persistence, consequence, incentives, implications, tangible rewards, autonomy

Chapter 5 discusses details involving intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is the innate desire to involve oneself with enjoyable interests and to accomplish goals and challenges while doing so. An intrinsically motivated person acts out of interest and has a high aspiration for self-growth. Intrinsic motivation generates from feeling autonomous, feeling competent, and feeling related to others. Persistence, creativity, conceptual understanding, and optimal well-being are all products of intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation comes from environmental incentives and consequences that are separate from the activity at hand. A person extrinsically motivated continues an action for an environmentally created reason. The next section of the chapter involves details of incentives, consequences, and rewards. Incentives are environmental events that attract or repel a person toward or away from initiating a particular course of action. Incentives precede behavior and create an expectation of a consequence. Consequences are divided into two types; reinforcers and punishers. A reinforcer is an extrinsic event that increases behavior. A reinforcer is given before the desired action is done. A punisher is any environmental stimulus that, when presented, decreases the future probability of the undesired behavior. The book states that according to research punishers are not an effective mode of motivation. Rewards are another subject causing motivational controversy. An extrinsic reward is any offering from one person given to another person in exchange for his or her service or achievement. Modern research debates whether extrinsic rewards decrease an individual’s intrinsic motivation. Because of the conditioning reward systems create, individuals may only do what is expected of them when given the chance to earn a reward. Their intrinsic motivation can decline and the quality of the work being done can decrease as well. Rewards that are not tangible and expected however, are found to not decrease intrinsic motivation. The Cognitive Evaluation Theory is studied to understand controlling another person’s behavior. According to the theory all external events have a controlling aspects and an informational aspect. Controlling events undermine intrinsic motivation and increase extrinsic motivation whereas informational events increase intrinsic motivation. There are four different types of extrinsic motivation including the following; external regulation (not autonomous), introjected regulation (somewhat autonomous), indentified regulation (mostly autonomous), and integrated regulation (fully autonomous). The more autonomous a person it, the more effort they put into a task. Motivating others without using expected and tangible rewards can be difficult. The textbook suggests given a verbal explanations of why a certain action or task will be beneficial to the individual.

I found information on rewards to be most interesting and beneficial to myself. It’s really informative to have solid data explaining why tangible and expected rewards are negative towards ones intrinsic motivation and self growth for reasoning related to parenting, teaching, therapy and so on.

I believe it is possible to be intrinsically motivated and still paid when an individual truly loves their job and would continue it even with a pay decrease. If someone genuinely wants to go to work every day and accomplish their goals then I would consider them to be intrinsically motivated. For example, those in health care generally are in their profession to make a difference in people’s lives. If they didn’t want to do so they would have picked another career path where they were simply “collecting a paycheck.”

I am intrinsically motivated to clean. I genuinely love to clean and consider it a stress reliever. I would clean my room over doing homework, shopping, watching TV etc. I find it to give me a feeling of accomplishment. I like to make checklists of things to do around the house and check them off simply to accomplish something. I am extrinsically motivated to go to work and perform my best. I work in retail and have to make certain stats each time I am sales floor leader. Making these stats is important because of the bonus plan our company offers. If, as a team, our store makes our monthly goals we are rewarded with extra pay for each hour we worked. Not only am I motivated by the extra cash, but also by making sure I do my best to earn the reward for the rest of my coworkers.

I’ll do better at school by not depending on rewards and instant results. Boosting my intrinsic motivation could really make a difference in the quality of my school work. Persistence is something I value and work hard to obtain, however, there’s always room for improvement. A lot of times I find myself saying things like, when I finish this paper I can watch some TV. However, the information presented in the chapter demonstrates that I will spend more time on assignments and put in more quality effort if I don’t reward myself with something tangible and expected.

In this chapter they examined the two big types of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic was briefly defined and explained but the remainder of the chapter was spent explaining types of extrinsic motivation, rewards, punishment, costs, and the like.
What really struck me was the different way of thinking about extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. I took behavioral modification last semester and we covered these topics but by reading through it again I was struck with the realization that most kinds of daily reinforcers are extrinsic. It now seems like this is a duh statement but it stuck out to me this time. For example, whenever I thought of extrinsic motivation I thought of score cards, grades, and being paid. I had never really thought of punishment as an extrinsic motivator but it makes sense. People are probably very rarely punished while intrinsically motivating themselves to do something.
The study discussed at the top of page 125, displays my thoughts on this topic. The study found that rewards only negatively affected intrinsic motivation when the person expects that their behavior will earn them a reward. Now, I don’t know about you but when I apply for a job I expect to be paid. Another item that was shown to decrease intrinsic motivation was receiving tangible rewards, but verbal rewards did not decrease it. After I have worked at Menards for 9 hours I would be rather pissed off if I only received a ‘good job’ from my manager. Now the thing to realize is that I was once motivated intrinsically to work at Menards. I love doing home improvement projects and I was stoked when I got the job there in the plumbing department so that I could learn about this area that I knew nothing about. However, my intrinsic motivation was soon beaten out of me(metaphorically). Through the use of tangible rewards, punishments, tight supervision of my behavior, and expected rewards I no longer enjoyed exploring these home improvement projects. Now I go to work primarily for the paycheck and to hang out with my buddies who are also only there to collect their paycheck
As stated above working on home improvement projects is one thing that now only semi-intrinsically motivates me. It still does when I am not at work. I love to tinker around in my car or around my apartment, learning how things work and fixing them if they are broken. At my place of employment, this same activity becomes much less enjoyable because I have expectations put on me, like solving impossible problems for guests that are in a pissy mood, and long hours of monotonous work. Another thing that intrinsically motivates me is hiking around outside. This can be in Iowa or Colorado, I don’t care I just love doing it. Principles from the book certainly apply to me in this. I feel very accomplished (a sense of self-actualization) after a hike and I go on them for hours and day after day if possible (or persistence). Despite these things that I find fun to do there are other activities that I am motivated to do solely because of extrinsic motivators. One example of this would be cleaning my apartment. I got married this past may and now I have my wife having to live with me in whatever conditions I submit myself to. I used to be fine with having clothes scattered all over the floor, now I put them in the laundry and wash them on a regular basis because I want my wife to like the way our home smells and to not be put off by my funky old gym shorts. Another extrinsically motivated act is reading for classes, but when it comes to reading for my enjoyment it is purely intrinsic. I can read for an entire day without feeling like I have wasted the day if it is something I have picked out and am doing for fun. Then, when it comes to textbooks I will distract myself with almost anything in order to put it off or to not do it at all. After one chapter I am ready to burn the book. Man, I just got really excited about free reading!
After reading this chapter it really has changed the way I think about my own motivation toward school and eventually a career. Sad to say, but it seems as though even if I really really really really love my job and am intrinsically motivated to do it I will eventually succumb to extrinsic motivation, maybe not permanently but at least in alternating waves. However, I may have found a job that is free from this. I want to be a guy who tells college age students about Jesus, a missionary of sorts, and who helps them out. In this role, through an organization, I would live off of money I had fundraised to support my family. Therefore, with the $ taken care of I am basically free to interact from my intrinsic motivation to want to know Jesus better and to tell other people about him. There really is no extrinsic motivator that I can think of. I am not graded/judged on this, I do not expect any compensation or reward for the behavior(especially tangible). According to the cognitive evaluation theory in Prop.1 I am motivated by an internal PLOC, Prop. 2 I am in an activity that is challenging enough to provide me with a sense of accomplishment and one in which I feel competent, and Prop. 3 just reiterates the two earlier ones. If I can make my life about this I feel like it will be an incredibly enjoyable career.
Terms: punisher, reinforcer, extrinsic motivation, intrinsic motivation, tangible and verbal rewards, expected rewards, self-actualization, persistence, cognitive evaluation theory(prop. 1, 2, &3)

Chapter 5 covered intrinsic and extrinsic motivations that influence behavior. A basic trait that guides human behavior is our hedonistic tendencies, or our tendency to approach pleasure and avoid pain. Although a fairly simple concept, this idea is the foundation for a large portion of behaviorists’ theories and findings related to extrinsic motivation.
Activities can be approached with either an intrinsic or extrinsic motivational orientation. Intrinsic motivation is the inherent propensity to engage one’s interests and to exercise one’s capacities and, in doing so, to seek out and master optimal challenges. This type of motivation emerges spontaneously from psychological needs and innate strivings for growth. Activities that emerge from intrinsic motivation fulfill psychological needs such as autonomy, competence or relatedness. In general, there are many benefits to intrinsic motivation, including increased persistence, increased creativity, enhanced conceptual learning, and increased subjective well-being.
Extrinsic motivation, on the other hand, arises from environmental incentives and consequences. The main difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation is the source of the motivation. Extrinsic motivation is founded on the idea of operant conditioning, or the process by which a person learns to operate effectively in the environment. Basically, attractive consequences will increase behavior (also known as the law of effect) and aversive consequences will decrease the probability of behavior. Related to extrinsic motivation are incentives, or an environmental event that attracts or repels a person toward or away from initiation a particular course of action. The differences between incentives and consequences are that (1) while incentives occur prior to the behavior, consequences come afterwards and (2) incentives excite or inhibit the initiation of a behavior whereas consequences increase or decrease the persistence of a behavior. Another related concept that merits mentioning is a reinforcer, or any extrinsic event that increases behavior.
There are two types of consequences: Reinforcers (both positive and negative) and punishers. A positive reinforcer is any environmental stimulus, when presented, increases the future probability of the desired behavior. Some examples might include money, praise, attention, or a gold star. On the other hand, a negative reinforcer is any environmental stimulus that when removed will increase the future probability of the desired behavior. Some examples include whining, complaining, deadlines and pain. Negative reinforcers motivate escape behaviors against aversive stimuli and avoidance behaviors. The second type of consequences are punishers, or any environmental stimulus that when presented decreases the future probability of the undesired behavior. Some examples include criticism, jail terms, and public ridicule. In general, punishment as a motivator has been shown to be ineffective and often produces negative “side effects”.
Another concept related to positive reinforcers is rewards, or any offering from one person given to another person in exchange for his or her service or achievement. While all positive reinforcers are rewards, all rewards are not necessarily positive reinforcers. While rewards are meant to enhance motivation, they have “hidden costs”, such as undermining intrinsic motivation, interfering with quality and process of learning, and interfering with the capacity for autonomous self-regulation. Research has found that two factors in particular determine whether rewards decrease intrinsic motivation: (1) expectancy and (2) tangibility. In general, when a reward is not expected and when it is intangible, such as verbal praise, it does not affect intrinsic motivation.
There were two theories presented at the end of the chapter to demonstrate the application of motivational concepts. The first theory presented was Cognitive Evaluation Theory, which asserts that all external events have both a controlling and informational aspect. The general foundation of this theory is that external events affect not only a person’s behavior, but also a person’s psychological needs (such as competence and autonomy). The theory states that whether an external event is mostly controlling or informational determines its effects on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. The second theory was the self-determination continuum, which presented a range of self-determined behavior from amotivation to intrinsic motivation. This model presented 4 types of extrinsic motivation: 1) External regulation, 2) introjected external, 3) somewhat internal, and 4) integrated regulation. The conclusion from this model was that the more self-determined ones’ extrinsic motivation is, the better one functions.
Personally, I found the basic concepts behind rewards and punishers the most interesting. In today’s modern world, rewards are often used as motivation for certain behaviors (such as allowances, grades, pay raises, etc.), and yet, this type of motivation comes with many consequences and can undermine the more beneficial intrinsic motivation. Also, I was surprised by the ineffectiveness of punishment regardless of its prevalence in society. I, for one, experienced soap in the mouth and time outs quite frequently in my childhood. I am going to skip a couple of questions and relate this chapter to my future goals as a parent and educator. The take-away from this chapter is that I need to promote intrinsic motivation using rationale, praise, and by building interest in inherently boring or aversive behaviors. This type of motivation is the most beneficial and will promote well-being and learning.
In response to the question about being intrinsically motivated while getting paid, I would respond that you can absolutely be intrinsically motivated by your job while receiving a positive reinforcer for it. It is when the sole source of motivation for a job is the environmental outcomes that intrinsic motivation is squandered. For example, in my job I am very motivated by the praise I receive from my supervisors and the people that I assist. This type is an example of extrinsic motivation. On the other hand, I am also motivated by my growing competence in my position. The more I accomplish in my position, the more capable and confident I feel. The type of motivation that emerges from psychological needs is the intrinsic motivation that we should all strive for.

Terms: hedonistic tendencies, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, operant conditioning, incentive, consequence, reinforcer, positive reinforcer, negative reinforcer, punishers, rewards, Cognitive Evaluation Theory, and self-determination continuum

Chapter five discusses intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. To inherent prosperity to engage one’s interests and to exercise one’s capacities and to seek out and master optimal challenges is intrinsic motivation. Basically, this motivation comes from the drive to satisfy psychological needs. People will act upon their interests or for a sense of challenge when intrinsically motivated. Some examples of this type of motivation are, running a marathon, going on a vacation to Disney World, or playing a video game with friends. Intrinsic motivations fulfill feelings of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Autonomy is feeling free, while competence is effectiveness. Feeling emotionally close would be relatedness.
Extrinsic motivation happens when there is a consequence separate from the activity. Our behavior is extrinsically motivated when we act on attempting to win a trophy, make a quota, impress friends, or beat a deadline. This is because we want positive consequences, while trying to avoid negative ones. Some motives of this type are food, money, attention, or even smiles. We do things to get something rewarding in return. Reinforces are involved in extrinsic motivation. A reinforce is any extrinsic event that increases behavior. The book explains that a paycheck is a reinforcer for going to work. Another example of this is going to class, a person will graduate college.
Operate conditioning takes part in extrinsic motivation. This is the process by which we learn how to operate effectively in the environment. We learn to understand how to get positive consequences and avoid negative consequences. Incentives are also important to either motivation. An environmental event that attracts or repels a person to or from initiating a particular course of action is an incentive. These come after a behavior, as a result, they create an expectation that an attractive or unattractive consequence is coming.
I find it interesting to have learned that with positive reinforcers, people could help people make good habits. People get things, such as, paychecks and approval, and these simple things make a higher chance of continuous action. My theory is to give constant approval to someone who is working out to lose weight, even if they only did a short workout. This would encourage them to keep it up and probably increase the length of the work out or add more exercises.
I feel that if a person truly loves their job, they could be intrinsically motivated and paid. However, since I’m in college, I am extrinsically motivated. I would rather not have to work, but to pay for rent and food to stay at school, I need a job.
Along with the previous example, I have many instances that I have been intrinsically and extrinsically motivated. For intrinsic motives, I will go camping, go to movies, or hang out with friends. These all fulfill my need to be social or my enjoyment of the outdoors. My extrinsic motives are working out and doing homework. I do these even when I don’t want to because I get something out of it. I lose weight and get good grades when I do these things.
I think this chapter will make me think about why I do the things I do. I always wonder why I do certain things, but now I will figure out if it is intrinsic or extrinsic motives pushing me to do it. My motives will be helpful in the future. My career plan is to do something with adoption/fostering children, so I am intrinsically motivated to help them. I don’t really think about the paycheck. Just helping children find loving parents is what is important and satisfying to me.
Terms Used: intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, needs, drive, autonomy, competence, relatedness, operate conditioning, incentive, reinforce,

Chapter 5 is about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and how people are motivated to complete different tasks. This chapter discusses how motivation works when dealing with external regulation of motivation, incentives, consequences and rewards and other contributing factors that affect intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.
Intrinsic motivation is the when a person wants to do something because its gives them a sense of satisfaction or pleasure. Intrinsic motivation also stems from wanting to relate and feel a connection with others. Intrinsic motivation is a natural psychological need for autonomy, competence, and relatedness which all involve support from the environment and ones relationships. Intrinsic motivation promotes creativity, persistence, conceptual understanding and optimal functioning. An example of intrinsic motivation would be working on a difficult puzzle for personal satisfaction.
Chapter explains what extrinsic motivation is and what situations it applies to. Extrinsic motivation is motivated by incentives such as money, praise gold starts etc. and by consequences. Opposed to intrinsic motivation in which people do things for fun or personal satisfaction. Extrinsic motivation is motivated by a consequence that is separate from the actual activity that the person is engaging in. An example of extrinsic motivation would be a child working harder on a project in order to gain praise and gold stars.
Intrinsic motivations are motivated more by psychological satisfactory needs; extrinsically motivated behavior is motivated by incentives, consequences and rewards. There are two types of consequences: reinforcers and punishers. One type of reinforcer is a positive reinforcer which increases the probability of performing the same action again. Another type of reinforcement is negative reinforcers would be the sound of an alarm clock; it increases the probability of the person getting up to stop the noise.
This chapter also describes how the cognitive evaluation theory works. This theory predicts what effects extrinsic events will have on motivation and how it will affect intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.
I don’t think I was particularly shocked by anything I learned because I’ve read about this subject before and I am familiar with these motivations and incentives. I did think the cognitive evaluation theory was pretty interesting, that was new to me. I liked reading about what motivates extrinsic and intrinsic behavior. It’s interesting to know why people do what they do and what motives they have. I think it’s nice to know what to look for to see if people are doing things for pleasure or for notoriety.
While difficult I do believe that it is possible to be intrinsically motivated while being paid. I think that if a person genuinely loves their job and works hard because it makes them feel accomplished then they can continue to perform job tasks while being intrinsically motivated. Money seems like just an added bonus. Although it does get tricky when money is involved some people want more money so they work hard to gain recognition and praise so that people will offer them even more pay. I think it just depends on the individual’s personality.
I am intrinsically motivated to things such as shop sometimes without getting anything. I just like shopping for fun, it brings me such joy. I also like reading books, blogs and articles that aren’t for school. I like to read for personal enjoyment. I am extrinsically motivated to do homework to get good grades, I am extrinsically motivated to be nice to people so they will be nice to me.
I think things I learned from this chapter will help me to better understand what motivates me so that I can know what to do to get motivated and how to handle certain situations. I can make incentives and give myself rewards for doing my work early I will feel good about it while making good grades.
key terms: intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, persistence, creativity, optimaal functioning, relatedness, reinforcers, negative reinforcer,positive reinforcer, incentives, rewards, praise,consequences

In chapter 5 the literature is about intrinsic and extrinsic motivations. Intrinsic motivation is the motivation one feels to face challenges and psychological needs. It’s essentially internal motivation. On the other hand, extrinsic motivation is the external motivation. Chapter 5 is also about rewards and punishers. It’s also about our tendencies to do some things because we are intrinsically motivated and not just for extrinsic factors/motivations. It also talks about seeking out motivators in ones environment. The chapter also talks about the 4 types of extrinsic motivation in the self-determination Theory. The Cognitive Evaluation Theory is essentially the theory about the two types of motivation, extrinsic and intrinsic and the theory is about the effects of external consequences on internal motivations. The Self-Determination Theory is a larger theory about motivation and personality and how it affects people’s natural tendencies and the mental or psychological needs. The chapter also talks about the four types of extrinsic motivation. These four types are: eternal regulators, introjected regulators, Identified Regulators, and Integrated regulations.

I find intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to be extremely interesting. I was surprised at the differences between the two. I was probably most surprised by the idea that people want to feel like they are doing something “for fun” or “because they want too”. Even if they are positively reinforced or given a reward, if they were doing something only for the reward and not for themselves than their motivation is completely different. Intrinsic motivation is a motivation that comes from within an individual. It’s their internal or psychological needs. Intrinsic motivations are the unsystematic/spontaneous thoughts about what the individuals work for and need psychologically. Intrinsic motivations are the ones that are of personal interest or a challenge that an individual seeks out. The reasons someone might seek out these types of motivation are to feel effective and free or to feel competence and autonomy.

Information from this chapter changes how I think about my ways of getting myself motivated to do my school work. Instead of focusing solely on my grades and the rules and regulations that everyone forces me to follow I will focus more on my learning and personal fulfillment. I will tell myself that I am completing the work for the challenge. I will also tell myself that it will make me better and stronger. It will help me prepare for my future career and improve my ability to help others when I someday become a counselor. I will focus more on meeting my psychological needs to be challenged and learn and gain the feeling of fulfillment. I know that I hate doing assignments when I only have to do them for the points and not because I feel like I’m actually getting something out of them.

It is possible to by internally or intrinsically motivated and still get paid; it’s just a different kind of payment. The payment is more of personal fulfillment. It could also be an unexpected rewards that if for doing a “good job” and not for simply completing the task. It could also be competition which is one of the most interesting types of motivators to me. It stems from external influences because it has to do with the degree to which the individual enjoys the activity. Still, it is internal or intrinsic when it comes to the fact of how much the individual enjoys winning or beating the competition. Something that normally would not get done suddenly gets completed when competition is involved because it is intrinsically motivating.

Also, someone can get paid for something that they love doing. If they do a job everyday that brings them pleasure and happiness, then they are getting paid for fulfilling a personal challenge that meets their psychological need to succeed.

Terms: Intrinsic, Extrinsic, Motivation, competence, autonomy, rewards, punishers, Cognitive Evaluation theory, Self-Determination Theory, external Regulators, Introjected Regulators, Identified Regulators, Integrated Regulators, psychological needs, internal, external.

Terms used: intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, psychological, autonomy, competence, relatedness, persistence, creativity, conceptual understanding, well-being, positive and negative reinforcers, punishments.

Chapter 5 talks about extrinsic vs. intrinsic motivation.
Extrinsic has to do with the environment, which motivates peoples behaviors from the "outside". Intrinsic motivation refers to a person being motivated from the "inside", or psychologically. The chapter then goes on to describe various concepts that include incentives, consequences, and rewards. Behaviors are all stimulated either intrinsically or extrinsically, maybe even both at some times. The outcome of a certain behavior creates a reinforcer or a punishment. Reinforcers increase the chance that that particular behavior will occur again. Of these reinforcers, there is positive and negative. Reinforcers (pos. and neg.) increase the chance that a particular behavior will occur again. What distinguishes the two is the fact that positive reinforces regard something "good". Paychecks, rewards, and trophies are all examples of this. Negative reinforcers are things that maybe we don't consider bad but rather annoying or nagging. Examples would be crying children or our alarm clock. We don't like the sound of either so we perform a behavior to avoid the sound, like getting out of bed to stop the annoying sound. Punishments are things that decrease a certain behavior. Like, taking a toy away from kids for bad behavior. The consequence, or outcome, determines how the behavior will be viewed in the future.

Incentives also occur and influence a behavior. These are things that occur and stimulate a behavior. Incentives and consequences are very similar except they occur at different times. Incentives occur prior to a behavior and consequences occur after the behavior.

Rewards are basically positive reinforcers. These are things like paychecks that keep us going back to work each week. Or they are the classes that we all strive to do well in so that we can receive good grades even though we may not have very much interest in that job or class. We are extrinsically motivated in this situation.

This brings us to our problem. People are doing things for the sole purpose of a reward. This is taking away the learning process and the healthy happy minds of individuals. This idea is called the "hidden costs of reward."

The thing that I read about that was most interesting to me was just mentioned. The fact that people will perform certain behaviors for the sole purpose of the reward not because it is fun for them. I think this is a terrible thing and that people need to find a way to make the things they do in life enjoyable and intrinsically motivate themselves more.

This leads into the next question, is it possible to be intrinsically motivated and get paid? Yes, absolutely. All an individual has to do is find something they love to do and do it for a living. Major in something that is very interesting to them and not for the sole purpose of acquiring a high paying job some day. Don't do it for the money, do it because you love to do it and look forward to going to work the next day.

I'm extrinsically motivated most of the time to do my homework each night (or attempt) in order to get good grades which will lead to a degree. After I get my degree hopefully I can get a good paying job. It's difficult for me to intrinsically motivate myself when it comes to school, however, it does happen from time to time when I find something very interesting. I'm also extrinsically motivated to go to work each week in order to make money to pay for various expenses.

Intrinsically, I'm motivated to go workout every week. I'm intrinsically motivated because working out makes me feel good and releases a lot of stress that is created from school and work. Also, playing video games is intrinsically motivating for me. It lets me escape the real world for awhile and I can sit down and relax for awhile.

Fortunately, information from this chapter has been brought up in some of my previous classes so these extrinsic/intrinsic motivation concepts are not so new to me. When I first came to school I choose my major on the sole purpose of getting paid a lot of money some day. After a year of boring, dry, and uninteresting lectures I decided that I wanted to major in something fun and interesting for me. I want to get up everyday after I graduate and love what I do for a job. So, I changed my major to psychology and enjoy most of my classes. Now, I choose my classes on what I think will be most interesting. This practice has made a better learning experience for me possible and school more enjoyable. Hopefully, it will make my future career something I look forward to each day.

Terms: Extrinsic Motivation, Intrinsic Motivation, Incentives, Rewards, Consequences, Reinforcers (positive and negative), Punishment, and "Hidden Costs of Rewards"

The focus of Chapter 5 was what types of motivation there are. Specifically it focuses on the difference between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. The chapter also covers several theories that relate to extrinsic and intrinsic motivation including cognitive evaluation theory and self determination theory. Intrinsic motivation is the type of motivation that comes from wanting to do something out of interest in it, while extrinsic motivation comes from incentives and rewards for doing something, but not necessarily from wanting to do so. Cognitive evaluation theory predicts the likelihood of extrinsic motivations affecting both extrinsic and intrinsic motivations in an event, while self determination theory extends the types of motivation outside of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.

The most surprising/interesting thing I learned about from this chapter was the "hidden costs of rewards". It is interesting to think about how something you start comes from intrinsic motivation and then turns to extrinsic motivations and it can completely change why you are doing the behavior. I can see how you lose your ability to self-regulate a behavior when you no longer work on something due to pleasure, but because of rewards or incentives.

Is it possible to be intrinsically motivated yet still be paid? I believe so. For example, I work for an agency that serves people with physical and intellectual disabilities. There are several people I support within the agency that I get paid to spend time, but I would go out of my way to spend time with them and not get paid for it. I think it is possible to be paid and still find pleasure and happiness from the behavior.

What are some examples of how you are intrinsically and extrinsically motivated? I am intrinsically motivated to spend time with my family and friends and listened to music because I enjoy doing those things and find pleasure and happiness in doing those things without any incentive or reward. However, I am extrinsically motivated to do well in school in order to receive good grades and I am extrinsically motivated to go to work to pay my bills so I don't have bad credit and can live comfortably.

How will information from this chapter change how you think about motivating yourself for school/career success? This chapter has helped me to realize what things actually motivate me to do well in school and what drives me to want to continue my education and further my career in the future. I thought I was going to school for intrinsic motives, which to an extent I am, but most I am going to school for extrinsic motivations to further my career and seek out a career that will give me intrinsic motivation to go to work everyday.

Terms Used: Motivation, intrinsic, extrinsic, cognitive evaluation theory, self determination theory, "hidden cost of rewards", behavior, self-regulate, rewards, incentives, drive.